Ruth Beatriz Pincinato received funding from the research program HAVBRUK2, released by the Norwegian research council (NRC)

Still a PhD fellow at the Department of Safety, Economics and Planning at UiS, but already an experienced grant proposal writer, Pincinato recently received funding from NRC for her post-doctoral research project. Pincinato will study how the fish farming industry responds to potential regulations to reduce salmon escapees and mortality.

“The process of writing this grant was very nice, because my colleagues have a lot of experience with writing grants and were very happy to help and give valuable feedback” she says, and stresses not only the importance of sharing and discussing research ideas and proposals with colleagues, but also the importance of applying for grants. “I have applied for other grants that I was not successful with, and that experience helped me to be more prepared for this application where I finally succeeded.”

The aim of her research is to understand how government regulations may contribute to a more sustainable fish farming industry. Investing in technology to decrease fish escapes and mortality is costly to the fish farmers, and regulations are believed to be the main tools to ensure acceptable escape and mortality levels. Little is however known about the economic effects of such regulations, and Pincinato’s research project therefore aims to predict the economic outcomes of several potential regulatory mechanisms. “If we gain knowledge on how the fish farming industry can be encouraged by government incentives to develop in a more sustainable way, the industry will be able to grow and at the same time preserve the surrounding natural resources.”

With her grant, Pincinato hopes she can establish international collaborations and keep moving around in the world to build her competence as a researcher.